Just a few weeks ago, I wrote about seeing the Kansas City Symphony perform the 9th Symphony of Beethoven. Of the many things that stood out from that evening, it was the the 120 person strong chorus that really won me over. The human voice connects with emotions that instruments are not able to touch, which is one reason I have always loved choral music. A friend of mine who is a singer with a new local choral group reached out to me about KC VITAs (Thank you Gayle!), a choral group here in KC that came to life last year (2015). She connected me to the Founder, Executive and Artistic Director, Jackson Thomas, whom I sat down with recently to talk to. This amazing young man has created something very special here in Kansas City. They are preparing for their second set of concerts on August 5th and August 7th. Here is our conversation.
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TH Who is Jackson
Thomas? Tell me a little about yourself.
JT What a loaded
question! (laughs) I grew up in Carrollton, Missouri, which is an hour and a
half from here...northeast… a little town between Marshall and Chillicothe. I
went to the University of Nebraska in Lincoln (vocal performance major). I
thought I wanted to be a professional opera singer, and that was the only thing
I could do to be happy. While I was there I had roles in opera and musical
theater, and then studied abroad in Berlin. I almost got a major in German
because of that...I was two classes away but I wanted to make sure I took opera
history! I moved back here after I finished…I have some family in the area. I took a
year of preparation as I call it before Grad school. I realized half way
through my junior year that choral music was where I was going. That was
something that I just always went back to over and over and over and realized
that if opera didn’t happen that I would be OK with that. I think lots of
musicians go through similar things….you never know what it is. But I
definitely know that I haven’t had more moving experiences than I have had
being in front of an ensemble.
TH How did you
develop a love for singing?
JT My family is
incredibly musical. I don’t know of anybody in my immediate family who can’t
sing. So they were always very supportive of that and wanted me to do it. I
also played saxophone and was a drum major for several years. My teachers in
school were a husband and wife team and they were really good about getting
people where they needed to be. They saw talent in me and connected me with
teachers. I started private vocal study at the University of Central Missouri
with Dr. Roden. This groomed me for that next step of collegiate study.
TH How old were you
when you realized that you could sing?
JT About 5th
grade. I knew before then that I could at least match pitch, but it was 5th
grade when I really began to sing.
TH Was there any
magical moment in your formative years where you realized that you loved music?
JT What’s funny is I
was waking up every day…I know this sounds cheesy…but I was always waking up
with a song in my head. I didn’t think it was weird until I talked to other
people and that didn’t happen. Early on I thought I wanted to be a teacher. I
used to say, “I do not want to do opera…they can’t make me do it” until I went
to my first opera at the Lyric and saw La boheme. I remember sitting in the
audience and saying “that’s what I want to do”….(laughs).
TH Did you study
conducting in school?
JT I did, and that
was incredibly instrumental for me. Conducting was something that seemed to
come very naturally to me and others said it was something I should consider
doing. And it was in college that I started my first group.
TH What brought you
to KC after you graduated?
JT I graduated in
2014. I have family in the area and I knew I wanted to move back here for a
year before auditioning for Grad schools to study choral conducting. I started
teaching and getting into several different choirs here and then I auditioned
at seven universities all over the country for Grad school (that was insane!) I
decided on KU, so I am now half way through that program working on a Master’s
degree in choral conducting. I’m a full GTA (graduate teaching assistant) so I
teach and last semester I conducted the Vocal Music Collegium, which is an
early music ensemble. I also co-directed the KU Women’s Chorale and the Concert
Choir. This year I will be the Director of the KU Men’s Glee Club, which has
never happened to a Master’s student.
TH Wow, that’s very
cool.
JT I am very excited
about that for sure.
TH How did KC VITAs
start?
JT During my first
year back I knew I wanted to start a choir. A friend of mine and I were talking
one night and I realized it was going to be harder than in Lincoln…there are so
many choirs here already.
TH Is Kansas City
fertile ground for choirs? More than you realized perhaps?
JT Oh yea….and I am
still learning about groups that are here that I didn’t realize existed. Or
that they have been around for so long. So some friends of mine that I sang with
in AGO (American Guild of Organists. This is a national professional
association serving the organ and choral music fields). agreed it seemed like Kansas
City was missing something that focused on new music. I actually dabble in
composing myself. I wouldn’t call myself something that I’m not, which is why I
say I “dabble”. But I was friends with a
lot of composers at UNL and I realized that these new pieces they were writing
were great, and nobody is performing them. So I knew I would have plenty of
pieces to perform, and the three of us made a pact that we would work hard to
make this happen. We just went with it and started asking people all around. We
started in May of 2015. I put an ad out on Facebook for compositions too. And
how big it got was an accident. I am pretty relentless...persistent (laughing)
until they give me an answer. I had six people give me premieres of some sort, Four of them were world premieres. We ended up with 21 singers last year for our
first performances. This year we have 28. Patrick Neas from the Kansas City
Star wrote about us and I think that was a big reason we were so successful. We
ended up having 400 people at our concert….and we only printed 200 programs! We
got a standing ovation at the end. It was really exciting.
TH What did this
success tell you about the arts community in Kansas City?
JT Not only are they
supportive of music, but its filling a gap…there is a need. Afterwards we got
together and realized that we need to make this more “real”. I was footing the
bill for everything, and people aren’t going to donate to something that they
don’t really know, so we looked into the 501(c) (3) which has been huge.
TH What is your
“title” for this organization?
JT I am the Executive
Director and Artistic Director….as well as the Founder. I also serve on the
Board at this point.
TH Tell me about the
name…KC VITAs….where did that come from?
JT KC stands for Kansas
City….of course….VITAs stands for vibrating internal thyroarytenoids.
TH What does that
mean (laughing)..?
JT That’s literally
your vocal chords….the tissue that make up your vocal chords.
TH That’s pretty
creative…did you think of that?
JT I did. I knew I
didn’t want to be called some cheesy Italian name….I was really into vocal
pedagogy at UNL…the science behind the voice, and I just thought that it fit in
a few ways. It satisfied my nerdiness, but also VITA conveniently means “life”
in a few languages… so new life…new music.
TH How many scores
did you receive from composers hoping to have their music performed?
JT Last year, I put
out a call for scores and received music from 15 people. This year, over 50
people submitted music….and that’s 50 different composers…some of them would
send more than three compositions.
TH That’s a lot to
sort through!
JT Indeed. And we are
not just a chamber choir…not all of the submissions were choral works. Some
were art songs. We are really a new vocal works organization, and our concerts
are not going to have just choral works on them. They’ll have art songs too,
and I will have other forms of vocal music as well.
TH Art songs?
JT Yes…it’s a fancy
way to say just a song with voice and piano. Not an aria because it does not
belong to a large work…just solo voice and piano.
TH Will any of the
composers be here for the concert?
JT Several of them
will be. We have composers from all over the country…Florida, South Carolina,
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri. I would
love to require all of them to be here (laughing)! So we have eight world premieres
this year. What we really want to focus on is that we are giving young and
rising composers a chance for their music to be performed and not charge them
to do so. Other arts ensembles may also be willing to perform your works, but
then you will get a bill!
TH How often do you
all rehearse?
JT Once a
week…Tuesday night for two hours…7-9 pm. I try to be very respectful of their
time because I am very lucky to be in front of them. Last year we had five choral
pieces, but this year we have nine.
TH Where do you see
VITAs going?
JT Right now VITAs is
a summer organization. I would love to see it go year round. I’d like to
continue to have our showcase in the summer, but also do a Fall concert.
Believe it or not, I have been given a lot of Christmas music! Out of that, I
could make a great Christmas program.
And then in the Spring, perhaps do a large work.
TH What are your
interests outside of music?
JT I make my own beer.
Traveling and hiking are also huge interests of mine too. And if I had time, I
also compose music. I also have 3 cats…Walter, Edith, and Bradley.
TH OK, now the hard
questions. I talk to a lot of musicians who tell me they don’t listen to much
music. When they have free time, which is not often, they don’t want to listen
to music….they want a break from it. Do you listen to music for enjoyment,
outside of work?
JT Oh my god, yes all
the time.
TH What’s on your
playlist at the moment?
JT I do a lot of
exploring, but I’m into anything where I can hear a real voice. I really like
Ben Rector. I listen to a lot of musical theater…probably way more than I want
people to know about (laughing)..
TH Do you have a
favorite musical?
JT My favorite
musical is Cats. I played the lead role.
TH Who is your
favorite jazz singer of all time?
JT That is a hard
question.
TH I always say Ella
Fitzgerald.
JT I was trying to
be more creative than that, but I was
going to say Ella Fitzgerald (laughing)…
TH I’m not surprised!
JT I know it’s watered own, but I like Michael Buble a lot.
If I could be a jazz singer, I think I would be happy. Nnenna Freelon is fantastic
and I really enjoy her music too.
TH What about
classical music?
JT Juan Diego Florez
is my favorite tenor…hands down. I saw him in Berlin, and I think he’s awesome.
I love Renee Fleming. Stephanie Blythe is wonderful. Deborah Voight…I really
love her.
TH What about
classical composers?
JT Rienberger….Joseph
Rheinberger…wow. I think he’s totally underrated, especially in the choral
world. His Mass for Double Chorus in E-Flat is…wow. Um…(thinking)..I know this
sounds weird, but somebody I really like, at least in the sacred repertoire
now, is Dan Forrest. I am directing
Requiem for the Living next year at St. Paul’s. I’m really moved by that.
Moving backwards, Handel is my favorite composer.
TH Will the upcoming KC VITAs concerts be recorded?
JT Yes they will, and
we will produce another CD from the live recordings.
TH I can’t wait to
hear it! I really appreciate you taking time to talk with me! Good luck on
August 5th and 7th.
JT You’re welcome!
Thank you.
Here is a link to the KC VITAs website:
